Melbourne Theatre Company 2012 Season

Robyn Nevin, Pamela Rabe and Aidan Fennessy today (September 27, 2011) announced the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Season 2012.

Reverse gender casting of a classic role is one theme that seems to have carried forward from 2011 to 2012, with Robyn Nevin as Queen Lear in 2012 set to follow on the heals of Geoffrey Rush’s forthcoming Lady Bracknell in Simon Phillips’ Importance of Being Earnestswansong.

The season of twelve plays features five Australian plays, two of them world premieres, Australia Day by Jonathan Biggins and Music by Barry Oakley, three Australian premieres and two Melbourne premieres.

2012 begins with a return to one of the MTC’s earliest hits with Neil Armfield’s Belvoir production of Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, first presented in 1955 by the then Union Theatre Repertory Company.

Between the departure of the outgoing Artistic Director Simon Phillips and the arrival of the new Artistic Director Brett Sheehy, Robyn Nevin, Pamela Rabe and Aidan Fennessy were invited by the MTC Board to program our Season 2012.

This year’s season theme Don’t Miss The Moment emphasises this unique occasion. Three outstanding artists, each with their own distinctive skills and attributes, have come together to create a season of the very best classic and contemporary Australian and international works on offer for Melbourne audiences.

‘Theatre is the great temporal art form, experienced by the audience from moment to moment,’ said Robyn Nevin, Pamela Rabe and Aidan Fennessy, MTC’s Season 2012 Programming Team.

‘And it’s the moment that stays with each of us. Not all moments, of course; just a few, special moments that are caught in the mind: an image, a line, a gesture, a flash of brilliance, a thrill – glittering shards that stand for the whole. MTC spills out these bright, hard, gem-like moments that defy the erosion of memory. And it was perhaps our fleeting tenure as programmers that got us thinking about the ephemeral nature of theatre, prompting this year’s theme Don’t Miss The Moment.

‘We have had a fantastic time programming MTC’s Season 2012 and we are confident that we have put together a good mix of plays that cover the range of emotional and intellectual engagement which Melbourne audiences thirst for. We think that the result is a season where there is something special for everyone.

‘We also found ourselves, as we chose this season of plays, recalling our own favourite moments of past productions, and we dearly wanted this season, since it will be our only season, to be rich in take-home moments. So we invite you to lean forward in your seats and enjoy MTC Season 2012. You wouldn’t want to miss a single moment ...’

The Productions

2012 opens with the revival of Ray Lawler’s Australian classic Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. This is the Neil Armfield directed a Belvoir production starring Robyn Nevin, Steve le Marquand and Helen Thomson, which opens In Sydney this week. January 12 – February 18 – the Arts Centre, Playhouse.

(Read our review of the Sydney season)

The Australian premiere of Nina Raine’s Tribes is a sharp-jabbing drama about how families communicate. Cast includes Alison Bell, Brian lipson and Sarah Peirse. Directed by ex-MTC Associate Director Julian Meyrick. February 4 – March 14 – The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

Actor and playwright Kate Mulvany makes an unflinching examination of her family history in The Seed, an absorbing drama about how hard family ties can bind and the long-lasting effects of war. Anne-Louise Sarks directs Tony Martin and Sara Gleeson. February 17 – April 4 - the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio

John Logan’s multi-award winning play Red is a fascinating portrait of Mark Rothko, the great Russian-born American artist who distilled his art to essentials. A veteran of the stage, actor Colin Friels reunites with film director Alkinos Tsilimidos. March 22 – May 5 - The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

The world premiere of Australian comic Jonathan Biggins’s play Australia Day, which will also be seen at the Sydney Theatre Company, takes a bright, funny swipe at our secular traditions. This brand new comedy does to Shire committees what David Williamson did to football management in The Club. Geoff Morrell, Valerie Bader, David James and Llison Whyte are directed by Richard Cottrell. April 21 – May 26 – the Arts Centre, Playhouse.

Noni Hazlehurst steps into a climate change minefield in the Australian premiere of British playwright Richard Bean’s controversially funny play The Heretic, directed by Matt Scholten. May 12 – June 23 - The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

In conjunction with Black Swan State Theatre Company, MTC present a dramatic new play National Interest, based on the 1975 tragedy of the Balibo Five. MTC Associate Director Aidan Fennessy puts on his playwriting hat to personalise the headlines with a story of a family in the grip of grief. Fennessy will Julia Blake and Stuart Halusz. June 6 – July 21 - the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio.

Rachel McDonald will direct a new production of William Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy. In Queen Lear, Robyn Nevin dons the royal crown for the ultimate night at the theatre, leading a cast which includes Rohan Nicol and Genevieve Picot. July 7 – August 18 - The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

Hold the front page for His Girl Friday, John Guare’s adaptation of the screwball comedy film of the same name, and the original stage play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Aidan Fennessy will direct sixteen actors in this Hollywood classic; a cynical satire about tabloid journalism starring Pamela Rabe and Philip Quast. August 11 – September 15 - the Arts Centre, Playhouse.

Dancing through history, playwright Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls asks the difficult questions about women, career and corporate culture. Jenny Kemp returns to MTC to direct an all-female cast featuring Anita Hegh and Nikki Shiels. Churchill’s play will also be revived in Adelaide in 2012, in a separate STCSA production. August 25 – September 29 - The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

Based on the award-winning novel of the same name comes the new production of the Norwegian cult classic Elling, adapted by Simon Bent. This strange but utterly delightful theatrical gem is about an odd couple who are forced to discover the richness of life in the ordinary world. Pamela Rabe will once again direct Darren Gilshenan in the revival of his acclaimed role as Elling. October 27 – December 8 - The MTC Theatre, Sumner.

MTC favourites Jane Menelaus and Richard Piper will close MTC’s Season 2012 with Barry Oakley’s haunting and evocative new play Music. A story about a dying man and the people around him who are trying to tie up the loose ends of their ragged lives. The world premiere of Music marks Oakley’s return to theatre after many years. November 9 – December 22 - the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio.

The 2012 Lawler Studio Season will receive its own independent launch, along with the 2012 MTC Education Program.

In 2012, MTC main season productions will once again appear in three theatres, all in Melbourne’s Arts Precinct in Southbank. The MTC Theatre on Southbank Boulevard will feature six of MTC’s main season productions in the 500-seat Sumner Theatre. A short walk away at the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road, the Playhouse (840 seats) will host three larger-scale works, while three more intimate dramas will appear in the Fairfax Studio (350 seats).

www.mtc.com.au

To keep up with the latest news and reviews at Stage Whispers, click here to like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.